Cognatus Magicis
by tahapach
Summary: What if Dudley was a Wizard but never knew it? What tragedy would it take for him to find out and how would this change the war for Harry and his friends? AU from end of OooP. Non SLASH
1. The Magic Awakens

_I do not own Harry Potter. That privilege belongs to J. K. Rowling. This story is solely for the pleasure of myself and hopefully my readers._

**Chapter 1**

The deep rumble of thunder, and the blinding flash of lightning sheeting the night sky, penetrated the suffocating darkness of the nightmare engulfing the mind of a sleeping boy. Shocked awake, the boy bolted upright and realised that in the throes of his terrible dreams, he had deposited himself on the hard floor of his tiny bedroom. Rubbing the back of his head where he must have knocked it upon his landing, he fumbled for his glasses sitting in their usual spot on his bedside table. Glancing at the alarm clock sitting next to them, he sighed softly, and then after looking once more, resigned himself to the fact that even though it was only 4 in the morning, he would not be getting any more sleep that night.

Getting up and throwing a shirt on, Harry began staring out of the window. The only difference about this night, compared to every other night since he had been sent back to the Dursley's after the fight at the Ministry, was the weather. He blinked after a particular bright flash of lightning, and in that moment, when his eyes were trying to adjust back to the darkness, he saw a shape in the clouds. It was a Grim. It was gone in an instant, but it was enough for tears to begin running down his pale cheeks, and his head to bow down in utter sorrow. He had not had long with his Godfather, Sirius, a measly couple of years in between school terms and staying at his relatives, but they had done their best to make up for lost time.

But Sirius was never coming back. He had fallen through the veil, and it seemed to Harry as though the joy he had felt since the end of third year and the rescue of his godfather had been sucked out of him, as surely as they had in the presence of the Dementor's by the lake, only this time gone forever.

Over the next 2 hours, the only change in the room was the gradual increase of light as the storm clouds slowly gave way to the dawning of the morning sun, and the expression on the face of the boy staring once more out of the window. What had begun as sorrow, turned into guilt and then anger. Sorrow that he would never see his godfather again; never hear him reminiscing about his parents days at Hogwarts and the trouble they got into; never seeing the smile that transformed the hollow face of a man too long imprisoned for a crime he did not commit into the proud, aristocratic countenance of the man he was and should have been. Guilt that Sirius' death was his fault. After all, Sirius had come to the Ministry to save him, and had ended up dead at the wand of his deranged cousin. And anger at the injustice of the situation. At his own stupid decisions that had led the six of them into the Department of Mysteries, and at Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters, who were determined to take what was good in the world, and smother it with darkness.

His thoughts turned towards the prophecy and the anger redirected itself towards Dumbledore. '_How dare that man keep this from me_!' Harry felt his fingernails digging into his palms he was clenching his fists so hard. '_I knew Voldemort was after me but now I know why, I am even more terrified than ever. It is not very comforting to be told love is the power he knows not. However, the prophecy can wait. Knowing what it says isn't going to change anything while I am at the Dursley's. I need to focus on one thing at a time and Sirius is ... gone'_.

The buzz of the alarm clock signalling 6am, and the start of his day, broke Harry from his brooding, and with a final glare at the window, he turned and started to prepare himself for the tasks ahead. It had been a long time since his uncle had been physically abusive towards him, but emotional abuse hurt as much or more and that did nothing to reduce the list of chores he was expected to complete each day. His aunt had perfected the art of pretending Harry did not exist, as long as the work got done, and Dudley had moved on from 'Harry-hunting' to terrorising the rest of the neighbourhood's children with his gang of sycophants. Being busy would hopefully prevent him from thinking too much, and he might be able to get through the day without breaking down in front of his relatives, or even worse in the front garden in full view of the other residents of Privet Drive.

Harry took a quick shower and proceeded downstairs into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. At precisely 7am, Vernon Dursley came and seated himself at the dining table, merely grunting when a large plate full of bacon, eggs and toast was placed in front of him. Harry silently heaved a sigh of relief. A quiet uncle was a good uncle in his eyes. Vernon was not a morning person and was more often apt to express his displeasure at being up at an unreasonable hour quite vocally, although only at Harry. He was no longer a violent man, but he was no less an awful parental figure for a young boy with his excessive bad language and emotional neglect. Unless of course you were Dudley, resident whale and personal torturer of the 'freak', who could do no wrong in his father's eyes.

Dudley pounded down the stairs at 7:15 demanding his food loudly. Harry placed another even larger plate of food in front of him and retreated once more into the kitchen, followed by the menacing tones of his cousin

'This had better be a good breakfast or else...'

Harry tuned him out, used as he was to threats in this house. The third and final plate of food was put down in front of Aunt Petunia, who had at last descended downstairs. She greeted Harry with a look of indifference and ordered him to start cleaning up. Brushing his hair away from his eyes, Harry put the pans into some hot soapy water and began to wipe down the bench top.

Today was a special day at the Dursley's. Dudley had got a summer job at a corner store just down the road, and was starting his first shift at 8am. He was excited, not because he was thrilled about spending his days in the shop instead of outside terrorising the local children, but because he thought it would give him an opportunity to steal sweets and cigarettes more easily for himself and his friends. He would have to be very careful not to get caught, as it would not do for his parents to find out that he was not the perfect child they believed him to be. His bullying was rarely reported, and when it was, he always had a good excuse lined up, and Vernon would always blame the other children for provoking him. Being caught stealing from his place of summer occupation would be an altogether different situation.

That afternoon, sporting a headache from trying to remember so many different prices, items, tasks and other pieces of his training, and with pockets full of stolen chocolate bars, Dudley looked up and grinned as he saw Harry alone in the nearby park, sitting on a swing, staring off into space, as he often did since he returned from _that place_ this summer. Maybe he could cure his headache the old fashioned way, by giving it to someone else, forcibly. Cracking his knuckles, he began to stalk towards Harry who was oblivious to his cousins approach. When he was about 10 metres away he was suddenly startled by a loud crack behind him, and he turned to see 2 black robed men, who raised their hands and pointed little sticks at him. Dudley began to laugh until he realised what it was they were holding but it was not until he heard Harry frantically yell 'Dudley, get down!' that he understood his mistake.

Time slowed and he could hear the men shouting, and then lights raced out of their sticks straight at him. At the last possible instance before he was about to be hit, he was tackled from behind, the lights crackling as they sped just above his head before taking a large chunk out of a tree somewhere behind him. Sprawled on the ground, he turned his head to see Harry quickly jumping up and standing protectively over him.

'Well, well, what do we have here' one of the men sneered. 'Protecting a filthy muggle, are we. We were going to get rid of him quickly before taking you back to our master, but I think now it might be more fun for you to watch him scream before we go.'

The man then ignored Harry and started moving forwards with his wand pointed at Dudley, who was still lying on the ground, suddenly petrified by fright. Harry screamed at Dudley to run but the words fell on deaf ears. This was well outside the realm of his experience and he was unable to even think of trying to escape.

The second man kept his wand trained on Harry, but he got a shock as he saw Harry's face contort with rage.

'Watch out' he yelled to his partner before Harry had dragged his wand out of his pocket and shot off a stunner. The first Death Eater fell to the ground, unmoving, but this gave the second man the opportunity to strike at Harry. Spinning, Harry attempted to put up a shield but was not fast enough, the spell hitting him in the chest and sending him flying backwards before landing painfully on the ground.

Putting his hands out, his fingers curled around a broken branch. Harry picked himself off the ground and looked back at Dudley, who was now shaking as the second Death Eater advanced towards him. Sprinting back towards his cousin, Harry realised he would be too late as the Death Eater closed on Dudley, dragged him onto his feet and pushed him up against a tree, with his forearm across Dudley's throat and wand digging into his belly.

'Ready for some fun are we, boy? No one to save you now. I would normally use a spell for this but sometimes, it is much more pleasurable feeling bones breaking under your bare hands.'

Putting his wand away, the Death Eater pulled his fist back for a punch when Dudley finally regained the use of his limbs. Self-preservation overpowering fear, Dudley raised a trembling hand to block his face, closed his eyes and waited for the blows to come. Instead he felt a strange sensation in his hand, and the pressure on his neck disappeared. Opening his eyes, the Death Eater was slumped next to his partner. Dudley looked around to find Harry and saw him staring wide eyed, his mouth open, obviously having difficulty processing what just happened.

'Ummmm t-t-thank you, H-H-Harry. Y-You saved my life, again', the words spilling out before he clamped his mouth shut.

There was no response from Harry. He was still standing, still looking as utterly shocked as he was before Dudley had spoken.

'Harry? What is the matter?' Dudley looked over his shoulder quickly, hoping there were no more robed monsters.

'Dudley. I didn't do anything. I was still too far away. What the hell happened?'

'I believe I can answer that' came the familiar but no longer comforting voice of Headmaster Dumbledore as he appeared, walking quickly with Tonks at his side, who immediately checked the stunned Death Eaters and bound them tightly before stunning them again.

'But it is a long story. The Ministry will have recorded the use of underage magic here, and will be along shortly to investigate. While normally a serious charge, the presence of these Death Eaters should be plenty of evidence to prove self defence. I will wait with you so we can get this situation resolved quickly.'

'Professor, how did the Death Eater's know where to find me?'

'The answer to that does not bode well for our struggle. The Death Eater's have infiltrated the Ministry, Harry, and must have been able to access private files that recorded your address. While the wards protect the house, they don't stop anyone from watching the street and the surrounding areas. You are very lucky Voldemort only sent two men.'

More pops sounded as the Aurors arrived on the scene, along with a Ministry Obliviator. Striding up to where Harry and the Headmaster stood was Kingsley Shacklebolt, who was leading the team.

'Albus, what happened here?'

'Death Eaters appeared and attacked Harry and his cousin. Harry managed to stun one of them during the fight. Luckily I was on my way to visit Harry and saw the attack and was able to stun the second Death Eater from behind'

Harry's eyes widened again at the blatant falsehood, but before he could correct the story, he saw Dumbledore quickly stare at him and shake his head and decided to let the explanation lie. Shacklebolt was obviously happy with the response, and after taking a few notes, nodded to his team, who grabbed the stunned Death Eater's and apparated away.

Just as he was about to leave as well, Shacklebolt spotted a Ministry owl carrying an official looking letter descending towards the group.

'That would be your official summons to appear before the Ministry for the improper use of underage sorcery. I will take this with me and deal with it, don't worry. Try to stay out of trouble for the rest of the summer Harry.'

Harry turned to find Dudley sitting on the ground, his arms curled around his knees, talking softly to himself.

'What happened? How did that man get knocked away from me like that? If it wasn't Harry, who was it?'

'Dudley, get up. Let's go home. Dumbledore will explain everything when we get there.'

It was a measure of how traumatised Dudley was, that he obeyed without question and without making any derogatory remarks about 'freaks' and 'weirdos'. He did stare at the ground and refuse to make eye contact without any of them, while still muttering to himself as he stumbled along in the wake of the magical trio.

Unfortunately, however, the day was about to get even worse.

'Where is that smoke coming from?' Harry suddenly asked, pointing into the sky. With a sinking feeling, he realised if the Death Eater's found him at the park, they knew where he lived. Dudley must have come to the same conclusion as he gave a cry and began to run down the road towards the corner of Privet Drive. Harry made to follow him, but was pulled up by a hand on his shoulder and the very concerned voice of the Headmaster.

'Don't Harry. The Death Eater's could still be there. Stay here with Tonks. I will go and check on your relatives.' Dumbledore trotted off after Dudley, while Tonks struggled to physically restrain Harry from charging towards his house.

'Harry! Stop fighting me. You know what he said was true. It is too dangerous for you to go there at the moment.' Tonks grunted in pain as Harry's elbow connected with her stomach and she lost hold of him. Running after him as quickly as she could, after she caught her breath, she rounded the corner to see pandemonium, as number 4 Privet Drive was engulfed in fire, the flames billowing out the windows and a Dark Mark hanging in the sky over the house. Harry and Dudley were both kneeling on the path, staring at the inferno that was their home, horror portrayed on their faces. Vernon's car was parked in the open garage. He must have returned early from work that day, and it would be the last decision he ever made.

Gesturing at Tonks to grab Dudley, Dumbledore slowly walked over to Harry, the usual sparkle in his eyes gone, replaced by concern.

'I am very sorry, my boy. I do not understand why the wards failed. I promise I will get to the bottom of this, but for now, we need to go. The men in the park must have been scouting as they did not find you in the house and came across you by accident. When they do not return, more Death Eater's will come.'

Harry nodded mutely. '_Why am I so upset by this?; _he thought. '_My Uncle and Aunt hated me, shut me in a cupboard and treated me like a house-elf. I should be glad that they are gone and I will no longer have to live here.' _But a part of him realised that, for better or for worse, they were the only family he had, and in that moment, even if he would never forgive them for how they treated him, he could mourn their passing, and with it, the last living link to his mother. Now there was just Dudley.

It was a very subdued quartet that appeared outside Grimauld Place. With nowhere else to go, the foreboding house and headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix would become Harry's summer residence. Dudley shied away from the front door. He had looked up, after retching into the gutter at the feeling of side-along apparition, wondering how he had got where he was, only to see the house slowly appear from in between the houses already there. Even though he knew he could not go home, he certainly did not want to enter a magical house that wasn't there one minute and was the next.

Finally, realising he had no choice, Dudley walked up the front steps, and followed Harry to a room where he promptly fell onto a couch and starting crying, huge wracking sobs that shook his whole body. He had never cried like this before, but he had also not lost his parents before. _What is going to happen to me now?' _he thought. '_I will not got to a foster home!'._

But however terrible the evening had been so far, there was one final shock that would send Dudley into a catatonic state. Dumbledore walked into the room, sat down and conjured everyone a large mug of hot chocolate. Staring at the mug blankly, Harry asked,

'Headmaster, what happened at the park? I did not stun the second Death Eater. I was too far away. How did that happen?'

'Ahhhh Harry, this is going to be a long story, that might want to wait until the morning.'

'Tell us now. I need to know.' Dumbledore turned slowly at the sound of Dudley's voice that was barely audible and still trembling with fear and pain.

'Well Dudley, the reason the second man was blown away from you like that was accidental magic. You are a wizard!'


	2. A Change of Heart

**Chapter 2**

_'Well Dudley, the reason the second man was blown away from you like that was accidental magic. You are a wizard!'_

Whatever reaction that Dumbledore expected from his statement, Dudley fainting and falling off the couch was not it. There was a loud thump as he hit the floor, and then silence reigned for a long, drawn out minute, until Harry managed to vocalise a single word.

'How?'

'I would dearly like to know that as well, Professor.' This came from Tonks, who had been standing quietly in the corner, observing the interaction.

Dumbledore let out a deep sigh, pushed his half moon glasses back up his nose and shifted uncomfortably in his seat, pointedly not looking at Harry.

'Harry, my boy, this is a tale best told only once. I could wake Dudley, but considering the tragedies of this evening, I can't help but think that he should rest undisturbed. There will be time enough for the telling.'

'And exactly how do you think I will be able to get any sleep after what just happened?' Harry's voice smouldered with burning anger, about to erupt into a fit of rage. 'I have not questioned many of your actions over the last years, Professor, and we will be having words later about the prophecy and why you kept that from me, but this is too much. How long have you known? Why didn't you tell me? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL HIM!'

By the end of his rant Harry was standing, his fists clenched, breathing heavily and magic was beginning to radiate off him in waves, saturating the room with raw power. All of the loose objects began to rise from where they were sitting, only to crash back down as the magic was abruptly cut off. Harry's eyes glazed over and he, too, fell onto the floor, saved from injury by a quick cushioning charm.

Dumbledore lowered his wand, and sighed again. He was in a precarious position. On the one hand, he needed Harry's trust in order to prepare him for the inevitable outcome of his confrontation with the Dark Lord. On the other, he had set himself up for failure, his decisions of the past finally catching up to him, and he knew that as bad as Harry's reaction had been to his announcement, it would only be worse in the morning. Throughout the course of his long life, Dumbledore had always been a step above everyone else in intellect and magical power, and this had led, unintentionally, to a feeling of superiority, propped up by the constant praise and respect showered on him after his defeat of Grindelwald and the many positions of authority he had held since. He did not feel the need to share his plans with anyone, believing that no one else would understand the sacrifices that would need to be made for the greater good, the result of which now meant that Petunia and Dudley's past was secret not only to Harry, but to the inner circle of the Order as well. Harry's righteous anger he could cope with and hopefully redirect back towards Voldemort. McGonagall's quiet, cold fury? Snape's condescending sneer? Mrs Weasley's motherly affection towards any children linked to Harry or her kids? Mr Weasley's look of disappointment that the inner circle were not trusted more? Lupin's horror at the injustice of hiding his heritage from another child? These would be another matter indeed.

'It would appear you have managed to created quite a mess Professor. Much as I would rather not leave Harry and Dudley here, given what they have been through, I believe I would better serve by heading back to the Auror office and assisting Kingsley to write up the paperwork for this incident, ensuring that the wrong information doesn't fall into the wrong hands. I trust you can look after them, or get someone else who can?'

At Dumbledore's nod, Tonks turned and walked out of the room, down the corridor, and promptly tripped on the umbrella stand. This woke up Mrs Black's painting, who began to hurl obscenities at her. A quick charm to close the curtains in front of the painting once more dulled the screaming, and Tonks exited the house, before apparating back to the Ministry. This would be a long night.

Looking at the two teenagers passed out on the floor, Dumbledore realised this was one area of expertise he did not posses in any form whatsoever. He would need to get someone to come and look after them, get them up to their new rooms, and prepare some breakfast. Much as he did not relish the thought of Mrs Weasley being involved any earlier than she absolutely had to be, Dumbledore could not think of anyone better suited to this task.

After a quick floo call, Molly stepped out of the fireplace at Grimauld Place, and stared in shock at the familiar form of Harry with cuts and bruises from his altercation with the Death Eaters, a rip in his shirt from the underpowered blasting hex he was hit with at the park, and the unfamiliar form of another larger boy, also with cuts and bruises and soot from a fire, lying on the thickly carpeted floor of the lounge room.

'What has happened Albus? Who is this other boy? Are they OK? Should we get Poppy? We need to get them to bed and nicely wrapped under the quilts so they can keep warm. I will stay and make sure I have a nice breakfast ready for them in the morning. Oh Albus, what is going on? Poor Harry. I should get Ron and Ginny here tomorrow so he is with his friends.'

Dumbledore's eyes widened at the onslaught of Mrs Weasley's shrill voice. She had barely taken a breath and he stood staring at her while his brain tried to formulate answers for her questions.

'This is Harry's cousin Dudley. They were attacked earlier today at a park near their house in Surrey. They managed to fight the Death Eaters and stun them both, however we then found that their house had also been attacked. Vernon and Petunia did not escape. We can only hope they died quickly. And the house was burnt to the ground however they are both physically OK, just bruised and exhausted, in Harry's case magically as well.'

'Oh the poor boys, that is terrible.' Mrs Weasley's eyes glistened with tears. 'But Albus, what about the wards. They were supposed to protect him!'

'That is one of the things I need to investigate as soon as possible. At a guess, I would suggest that Voldemort has realised that the blood he took from Harry during his resurrection at the graveyard has provided him with the ability to overcome the blood wards, as they would now be tuned to his blood as well, although there was no sign of him when we got to Privet Drive. I did not foresee this and alas, it has caused such pain. We can only be thankful Harry was not at home at the time.'

'As to their injuries, Dudley is just bruised. Harry was hit with a low powered blasting hex but seems to be OK. Luckily for him Voldemort must have been very clear that Harry was to be taken unharmed. We will need Poppy to look over him but I believe it would be best to discuss the situation before involving more people than we absolutely need, including Ron and Ginny. As to what is going on, you will have to wait until after breakfast when I will return. It is a long story, and I do not feel like repeating myself. I ... made a decision many years ago that could have further reaching consequences than I realised at the time. You will understand tomorrow. Now, I thank you for coming to look after the boys, but I must be off. There are some errands I will need to run this evening.'

Without waiting for a response, Dumbledore vacated the room through the fireplace, following the young auror to the Ministry to begin a long night of cashing in favours with certain well placed individuals, to try to keep the incident under wraps. It would not do for the press to catch wind of such activity involving the Boy-Who-Lived so soon after the Department of Mysteries.

Molly turned back towards where the boys were still passed out on the floor. She decided she would levitate them up to their rooms, before checking their injuries for herself. While not a trained matron like Madam Pomfrey, Molly had seven children of her own, all of whom seemed determined to injure themselves whether it was from curse breaking, looking after dragons, playing irresponsible pranks or quidditch. It was therefore with a quiet confidence that she proceeded to examine Dudley's injuries using a medical aura spell that showed where he was hurt. After applying bruise cream to his neck, and healing a few scratches, Dudley was tucked in and left to rest. Heading back downstairs, Molly repeated the process with Harry, this time adding a burn cream to his chest where he was hit with the blasting hex. Nodding to herself in satisfaction that they would wake up none the worse for wear, she put up a simple ward at each of their beds that would alert her if they awoke, and then decided to relax with a nice cup of tea.

Harry awoke to the delicious aroma of a cooked breakfast that had filtered up from the kitchen. His stomach rumbling, he sat up and checked his injuries. His chest was still sore and had a noticeable blister, but he counted his lucky stars that Voldemort still wanted him alive. . . for now. As Molly had left him his dignity the night before and not removed his clothes when putting him into bed, he decided he would just go downstairs as he was, and then shower after breakfast. Although he was a far cry from Ron the bottomless pit, Harry still knew not to battle his stomach if he could help it. As he left his room though, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of crying coming from the room next door. Remembering what had happened yesterday, he realised that Dudley would be having a very hard time of it. His cousin had not spent the last 5 years under the shadow of evil, fighting for his life every year, so for him, the loss of his parents and his house was even more devastating.

'_Now at least he will finally understand what I have been through the past years. Maybe he will stop being such an arse. After all, he doesn't have Daddy to hide behind anymore.'_ Harry felt guilty for this thought even as it crossed his mind, but realised that he was right. Dudley may have been a complete git his entire life, but it was hardly his fault. He could do no wrong in Vernon's eyes, and certainly hung out with the wrong crowd at school, to have any hope of not turning into a bully. Harry thought back about how he felt when he found out he was a wizard. He had grown up being called a 'freak' and had been ostracised by his uncle and aunt and bullied mercilessly by Dudley whenever his 'freakishness' had been noticeable. The irony of finding out that he was in fact a wizard like Harry, would be unbearable for Dudley.

The question now was what to do about his cousin. Should he intrude on the privacy of Dudley's thought, and become embroiled in the emotional turmoil of a boy who had been brought up to believe that only girls cried, that to show emotion was a weakness. How would Dudley react to his presence? Would he lash out in anger at the witnessing of his breakdown? Would he even notice that I was there? Harry's mind was racing, as he knew that the interaction he had with Dudley now would predetermine their relationship for the near future. Finally deciding on a bold but friendly approach, Harry opened the door and stepped inside Dudley's room.

'Morning, Big D. Can you smell that bacon? I don't know about you, but I always think better on a full stomach. Let's go down for breakfast and maybe Dumbledore will be there to tell us what the hell is going on.'

Dudley didn't even acknowledge Harry's presence but continued to hide his face in his hands and mumble unintelligibly at himself. Harry reached down and patter Dudley's shoulder.

'Come on mate. Believe it or not, I do know exactly how you are feeling and there will be plenty of time to grieve. For now though, we need to eat, and I can guarantee that you will not want to miss out on Mrs Weasley's cooking. If I didn't know her better I would swear she had an invisible house elf helping her with the meals.'

That seemed to break Dudley out of his misery, although confusion replaced sadness on his face.

'What's a house elf?'

'You'll see, D. Get yourself up off the floor and come downstairs. There is going to be an awful lot to tell you.'

With that, the two boys descended the stairs and entered the kitchen.

Mrs Weasley immediately rushed over to engulf Harry in a breathtaking hug, exclaiming in her usual shrill voice.

'Harry, dear, I am so glad that you are OK. When the Headmaster told me what had happened ... after such a horrible end to the school year, to have to go through something like that again so soon. It is terrible. And Dudley, I am very sorry to hear about your parents. My brothers were killed by You-Know-Who during the last war and it ripped my family apart. I know how much this hurts, and will do what I can to help, if you let me.'

'Thanks Mrs Weasley, but I think we just need to wait for Professor Dumbledore to explain what is going on, and this time I will not accept partial truths and misdirection. He will tell us everything he knows. I am no longer a child and he needs to learn that one way or the other.'

Dudley was unsure how to respond to the overbearing woman, and mumbled something before sitting down at the table opposite Harry, both immediately being presented with a steaming plate piled with delicious bacon, sausages, eggs and toast. Dudley's eyes lit up, and his lips twitched almost into a smile, the rumble of his stomach forcing his grief to temporarily subside. This was something familiar in an unknown world, something that he could look at and think of home and normality, something that could make him forget that the normal plate with the normal food, appeared in a most abnormal fashion, being levitated across the room from the stove. But then he thought about the fact that his breakfast had always been made by Harry, who was never allowed any himself, and he suddenly put the cutlery down, got up and ran out of the room, slamming the door of his bedroom before breaking down again at the thought of his parents, and the injustice of their treatment of Harry, who after fifteen years of hell, was still attempting to be nice to him.

Molly stared at the door in confusion.

'Harry dear, what is the matter with Dudley? I was sure a good breakfast would be just what he needed.'

'I am not sure Mrs Weasley, but if I was to try and guess, I would think it might be to do with the fact that most of Dudley's meals, during the summer while we are at home, are cooked by me, and ...' Harry's voice began trembling as this was not something he had shared with the Weasley matriarch before. '... well I was never allowed to eat the meals. If I was very lucky, Aunt Petunia would allow me to finish off the scraps if there was any left. Maybe now they are gone, Dudley has begun to realise what that means for both of us, and I can only hope is rethinking the last 15 years of his life.'

Mrs Weasley put down the plates and walked over to give Harry a smothering hug, which considering he was still sitting at the table and therefore his head was crushed against an overlarge bosom, made him feel very uncomfortable.

'I had no idea your life was that bad Harry. You should have said something. If I had known ...'

'Don't Mrs Weasley. There are not many things that I absolutely hate in this world, but taking second place to a well deserving Dark Lord is pity. I don't want it and I don't need it and I know that if I broadcast how my life was at the Dursley's, I would be seeing it in everyone's faces every time I look at them. I could not cope with that, especially not now, after Sirius and now my Uncle and Aunt. That part of my life is clearly now over. I don't want to talk about it again.'

A chime sounded at that moment signalling someone arriving by floo, and sure enough with a puff of soot, Headmaster Dumbledore stepped out of the fireplace. Brushing ash off his garish purple robes (where on earth does he get his robes from?), Dumbledore slowly lowered himself into an armchair. His face was pale and the twinkle was gone from his eyes. Molly rushed over and started fussing, as was her want.

'Albus, you are looking dreadful. Would you like some breakfast. I have just cooked some bacon and eggs.'

Dumbledore gave a tired smile. Trust Molly to believe that everything can be made better with food.

'Some hot chocolate would be lovely, thank you.' Food might not make everything better, but chocolate certainly does. It was well known that Dumbledore had a sweet tooth, as evidenced by the large bowl of lemon drops in his office.

'Harry, it is good to see you up and about. I hope you partook heartily of Mrs Weasley's cooking as I believe we have a long morning ahead of us. Now, before we can start, where is Dudley?'

'Dudley ran back upstairs to his room, Professor. I will go and get him now. And then, you will tell us the whole story. And I mean the whole story. I will not be happy if I find out you have left out vital information, as is your usual modus operandi. I have been through more in my fifteen years than most people do in their whole lives and you need to realise I am no longer a child.'

'You are correct Harry, and for that I apologise. This tale will be told in full, and then we can decide how to proceed from here.'

Knocking on Dudley's door, Harry was greeted with a muffled 'Go away.'

'Dudley, Professor Dumbledore is here and he needs to speak to us about what happened yesterday. You want to know what is going on don't you?'

Harry listened intently through the door and was vaguely able to make out the sounds of someone slowly picking themselves off the floor, and ambling over to the door. Sure enough, Dudley's red face, streaked with dried tears appeared, followed by the round expanse of his large body. The two boys descended back downstairs, lost in their own thoughts. Their lives were about to change immeasurably and while Harry was returning earlier than usual to his own world, Dudley was cast adrift in an ocean of uncertainty about his future. There was only one thing he knew for certain. He had a lot to make up for where Harry was concerned, although he had no idea how to begin.

Dumbledore sat in a conjured wing chair with garish green and orange striped upholstery facing the couch that was occupied by Harry and Dudley. Mrs Weasley perched on a chair in the corner, already with the makings of someone's Christmas sweater in her lap, although her constant glancing at Dumbledore was preventing much progress on her knitting. And the final person in the room was Tonks, who had floo'd over a few minutes before. Dumbledore was not terribly happy to include her in the discussion, however she insisted as she had witnessed the events of the day before and was understandably worried, and Harry had agreed, leaving the headmaster with little choice in the matter. She was not on shift until the afternoon so had a few hours available.

'Let me begin by once again expressing my sincere condolences for the loss of your parents Dudley, and your Uncle and Aunt Harry, as well as your fine home. I spent much of last night investigating what happened with the wards, and have yet to come to any solid conclusions, but I can only assume that when Voldemort took your blood for his resurrection ritual it negated the protection of the blood wards. This was unfortunately something I did not suspect and was unprepared for, so all I can do at this stage, is humbly ask your forgiveness for such a devastating oversight. At the risk of sounding obtuse, I have always found that the greater your intelligence and responsibilities, the greater and more far-reaching your mistakes, as yesterday has clearly shown.'

Taking a sip from his large mug of hot chocolate and ignoring the none too subtle cough from Tonks after his last comment, Dumbledore sat back and began to tell his tale.

'So in order to explain my decisions at the time, I will need to tell you a few things you may not have known. When your mother Lilly and your mother Petunia,' looking at Harry and Dudley in turn, ' were young they were inseparable and the very best of friends. Although Lilly was the attractive red head with genius level intellect, Petunia was never really jealous of her as she made sure to include her sister in all of her activities and shunned anyone who tried to keep them apart. This changed when Lilly received her Hogwarts letter at the age of eleven. Petunia could not understand why Lilly was given everything and she was not. Petunia actually cornered Professor McGonagall when she went to visit Lilly and explain about the magical world and demanded to be allowed to attend Hogwarts as well. Unfortunately, Petunia was not magical and we could not accept her. During Lilly's school years she drifted apart from her sister, as she didn't see her much except during holidays. Petunia harboured resentment for this and continued to do so ever since.'

So far the two boys had sat quietly through this background explanation, neither commenting on this, even though they had not heard this story before. After all, Harry had grown up believing his parents were drunks who had died in a car accident and Dudley used to ridicule him about it whenever he was out of earshot of the Dursley's.

'You may wonder why this is relevant, but I hope you will understand soon. So to continue the story, Petunia abhorred the thought of magic by this time that once Lilly left school and married James Potter, she did not even attend the wedding, even though Lilly left a seat for her in the hopes she would come. Even after Harry was born she refused to read or respond to any communication from Lilly, even when she found out about the first war with Voldemort and Lilly's effort on the side of the light.'

'Lilly spent much time trying to ensure your safety Harry, and being the brilliant witch that she was, managed to find a way to incorporate a shield charm into a blood magic ritual, that when combined with her ultimate sacrifice of love, was charged to protect you from the person that killed her. This was not even known to the inner circle of the Order of the Phoenix at the time and must not be discussed outside of this room. Even I was not privy to the details and have not been able to discern what she did.' With this Dumbledore looked pointedly at Tonks and Mrs Weasley, who until now had been sitting in contemplative silence. At their nods, he continued to address the boys.

'This blood magic ritual, although powered by Lilly's sacrifice was still potent as long as you had contact with blood relatives and while I had no proof, I had a feeling we had not seen the last of Voldemort, hence I knew you would need to stay with Lilly's family until you were of age at least. Knowing of Petunia's attitude towards magic and her resentment of Lilly that had grown even stronger through the years, I still went to her to ask if she would take Harry in. By this time, she had married Vernon and Dudley had been born only a month before Harry. This is where the story really begins and where my mistakes become apparent now.'

'Petunia initially wanted nothing to do with Harry, and refused to even consider taking him in, but then she had an idea that was to change the course of history, if I am allowed to use such a blatant cliché. She asked me to test Dudley to see if he was magical, and was devastated when the test came back positive. Her little baby was magical and she was not. She was very much afraid that when Dudley went to Hogwarts she would lose him much like she lost Lilly. So Petunia begged me to do something about it, and she promised that if I was able to remove Dudley's magic, she would look after Harry. At first I was not willing to do this, as it is monstrous to deprive someone of their magic, but as you are now aware Harry, I knew what the prophecy said and I knew how important you were and believed these blood wards would keep you safe. This prophecy is not known to any outside myself and Harry, and we will be keeping it this way; sorry Molly and Tonks but that is not negotiable, but the gist of it is that Harry was and still is the key to the war against Voldemort.'

Pausing when he heard Mrs Weasley gasp, he looked over at her and sympathised 'I know Molly, and I don't like it any more than you do, but unfortunately, whether Harry wants it or not, he has a further part to play this time around. I only hope we can prepare and give him his teenage years to enjoy before the war begins in earnest, although after the Department of Mysteries, I fear we are running out of time.'

Taking another mouthful of hot chocolate, Dumbledore faced the boys again.

'So, I finally gave in and agreed to bind Dudley's magic so that he would not be able to develop his magical core and become a wizard. At her request, I then obliviated the knowledge of Dudley being magical from her memory, and went back and left Harry with her.'

Mrs Weasley's shriek caused Harry and Dudley both to protect their ears with their hands and grimace. 'Albus, how could you! Dudley was a magical child and you did this to him. I can't believe you.' Tonks was nodding in agreement looking quite furious to discover that the leader of the light was slipping off his pedestal, and admitting to something so terrible.

Dumbledore hung his head in shame after this admission, and was expecting Harry or Dudley to explode in righteous wrath. When no such eruption occurred, he looked up again, and saw Dudley silently sobbing into his hands, and Harry looking at him intensely, with anger clearly showing in his eyes, but exhibiting a calm exterior. If Dumbledore did not know better he would think Harry was an accomplished occlumens, displaying a previously unseen amount of control over his emotions.

'Since we obviously cannot speak to my mother of Aunt Petunia about this, and she would not remember, we have no choice but to believe you. The two questions that remain are what happened for Dudley to be able to use magic, and what are we going to do now?'


	3. Friends and Family

_**Author's Note**__: Apologies for the delay in the posting. I just got the keys to my new house and I have been very busy. I will endeavour to keep posting but I may need to update once a fortnight to give myself the time._

**Chapter 3 - Friends and Family**

_'Since we obviously cannot speak to my mother of Aunt Petunia about this, and she would not remember, we have no choice but to believe you. The two questions that remain are what happened for Dudley to be able to use magic, and what are we going to do now?'_

A silence fell on the room after Harry spoke, and although the questions were spoken with a quiet confidence, the temperature in the room dropped noticeably and all eyes once more turned towards the leader of the light, to find out how the situation could be salvaged.

'The answer to the first question is a lot more complicated than it is going to sound, but the simple explanation is that the protection on Dudley's magic was linked to Petunia as his mother, and so when the Death Eaters attacked the house and she fell, the block was broken, allowing for the accidental magic that was exhibited in the park. This also helps to explain the order of events, and why the Death Eaters were searching the nearby neighbourhood when they found you. We don't need to get into the intricacies of the charm work at this stage, as that will not help us. Suffice to know that the block is gone and we can focus on moving forward.'

Dumbledore turned his piercing gaze towards Dudley, who had still not raised his face from his palms.

'Dudley, while in the past I might have made a decision that impacted your future so greatly, I can no longer in good conscience do that, so the path you will go down from here will be your choice. The least favourable option that I would be reluctant to agree to would be for me to wipe your memory of the last twenty four hours and allow you to believe your house was burned down accidentally by the stove being left on. You will then need to be transferred into the foster care system in the Muggle government to continue your current life.'

Mrs Weasley gasped at this. 'You can't do that to him again Albus. It was bad enough the first time!'

'Believe me, it would be the last solution, but Dudley will need to weigh up his options and make the decision he feels would be best for him. We cannot take this choice from him any longer.'

'What are the other choices, Professor?' Harry directed the conversation back on topic.

'Dudley can learn magic and take his place in wizarding society. This option will also be difficult and will require a lot of effort on Dudley's part, but as this was in essence my fault, I will do my best to assist with his education.'

'Will he be able to come to Hogwarts? He has missed five years, but if we study hard, he might be able to catch up.'

'Me? At Hogwarts? Doing magic?' Dudley's voice softly emanated from within his palms. Looking up slowly, anger was slowly replacing the grief written all over his face. The story had finally sunk in. A sudden, vigorous shaking of his head caused everyone to jump in surprise.

'I know what foster care is like and I will not be a part of it. I will do whatever I need to do to stay out of it. If that means becoming a wizard, then that is what I will do.'

Harry was very surprised by how quickly Dudley was willing to make such a decision. After all it had not even been a day since Harry's 'freakishness' was the cause of much anxiety as well as scorn and abuse in the Dursley household. While it was a very abrupt turnaround, Harry supposed that losing your parents is a big enough horror that the thought of doing magic is suddenly less of a concern.

'Well we would need to think about Hogwarts. It would be hard for Dudley to assimilate himself easily as he has not done five years of the course work so it would depend on how much catching up he can do during the summer. You have a couple of months to learn the basics, and I will assist where I can. Let us leave the idea of Hogwarts for the time being and look at what we can do now to ensure that Dudley is able to begin learning magic. We will need to procure him a wand which will necessitate a trip to Diagon Alley, but I think the main issue to work out now is his identity.'

'Harry, I know you have been reticent in revealing your childhood even to your friends, but there are still some people that know enough of the background to be, shall we say intolerant, towards Dudley. While they may come around, I am sorry to say this Molly, but the twins and Ron partook in Harry's escape from his room with the barred window at the beginning of second year, and I don't think they were particularly impressed with the situation. We need to be careful how we broach this.'

Harry gaped at the headmaster. he did not know that Dumbledore was aware of his daring escape, perpetrated by the prankster's extraordinaire in Mr Weasley's enchanted flying car. The crash into the whomping willow was old news, but the barred windows? The twins and Ron had promised to keep quiet. Then Harry remembered Dumbledore's penchant for passive legilimency and realised that the headmaster must know an awful lot more detail about his adventures than he would like. Which begs the question of if he knew, why did he not help? While learning occlumency with Snape might have been akin to a bull in a china shop, it was a discipline that Harry decided he would spend time on over the summer break.

Harry piped up 'Professor, I am confident that they will come around once I explain the situation. While I may still resent how Dudley and his parents treated me, I believe this war against Voldemort has forced me to grow up before my time, and I am willing to put the past in the past, if he is.'

'Harry, that is a very mature attitude and I am very thankful to hear you say that. Dudley, what do you say? Will you put the past behind you and repair your relationship with Harry?'

For a boy who abhorred any form of weakness, except not being able to run even once around the block chasing Harry without getting winded, Dudley had certainly cried an ocean of tears over the last two days and been an emotional wreck. This whole experience was so far out of his comfort zone that he just was not able to comprehend half of what was going on. What he did know however, was that Harry was looking out for him, after so many years of abuse, and while he did not understand why, he was more than willing to accept and reciprocate. This time, the look in his face when he peered over at Harry was adoration.

'Harry, I don't know how you can possibly forgive me for how I have treated you, but if you are willing to try, I will do my best to be worthy of your forgiveness.'

'That's settled then. Dudley, we will still need to work out some details before we attempt to enrol you at Hogwarts. I think it would be better if you changed your name so that no one who see's the paperwork will recognise you, but we can worry about that later. We also need to look at finding you a magical guardian but that can wait as well. Molly, why don't you floo back to the Burrow and maybe bring Ron over later today. I think having another person their own age here will help Harry and Dudley immensely. I know that I am not the usual company teenagers pine for, after all.' Dumbledore winked at Harry.

Tonks used the brief silence following this uncharacteristic statement from the Headmaster to stand up and stretch and head towards the fireplace.

'Well I need to be off for my shift at work, but I would love to come and help Dudley learn magic when I have the time and I will not divulge this information to anyone, of that I can promise you. I am an ace at transfiguration if I do say so myself, although don't even think about asking me anything about History of Magic. Dudley can catch up on that subject on his own.'

Harry laughed in sympathy as he thought back at his last five years with Professor Binns the ghost. History of Magic was well known as the one class you could sleep through or study other subjects in without getting in trouble and as long as you read the textbook, which was all Binns did in class anyway, you would pass the exam. Even Hermione, overly studious and rule abiding as she was, had given up attempting to get anyone else to pay attention, and resolutely sat by herself at the front, furiously taking profuse amounts of notes that transformed her class parchment into an almost exact replica of the textbook.

'Thank you Nymphadora.' Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as he used her hated first name.

'Don't call me Nymphadora, Albus.' With a dirty look shot towards Dumbledore, Tonks stepped into the fireplace and disappeared in a flash of flames.

'Now, I will stay here with you until Mrs Weasley returns, but alas, I have much to do, so will you be alright if I retire to the study and make some floo calls? Come and get me if there is an urgent need.' Dumbledore didn't wait for an answer but quickly vacated the lounge room they had been sitting in, a small spring back in his step, as a weight that he had been carrying around for fifteen years had been lifted from his shoulders. While there were other people that would need to be told the truth, at least it was no longer his secret alone, and Harry and Dudley appeared to accept it at face value. At least the temper tantrums had been kept to a minimum and no one had drawn a wand yet. That had to be a good thing, and given Harry's very Gryffindor tendency of charging in and worrying about the consequences later Dumbledore would not have been surprised if this shocking secret had prompted an equally drastic reciprocation.

Harry and Dudley spent the next couple of hours together, with Harry attempting to explain the wizarding world to the befuddled ex-muggle. Considering Harry was not brought up as a Wizard there were still a lot of things that he did not know about, which contributed to a number of awkward silences where he was not able to answer what should have been a simple question. Deciding to leave the topic of wizarding culture in Britain till a later time, Harry thought it would be best to bring Dudley up to speed on his adventures over the past five years, and provide an explanation, albeit brief, about the Dark Lord and his minions.

Dudley was astounded by what Harry had been through even in the first year or two of his schooling and by the time Harry was describing the basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets, he was beginning to doubt the authenticity of the story. Seeing this doubt beginning to spread across Dudley's face, Harry rolled up his sleeve and showed Dudley the scar he received from the tooth of the basilisk. By this time both boys were ravenous, especially as Dudley had not partaken of the morning's fare that Mrs Weasley had cooked, his stomach being overruled by his emotions in what must have been an absolute first time occurrence.

'Can we make some sandwiches, Harry. I regret not eating breakfast now. I hope Mrs Weasel wasn't too offended.'

'I explained why you skipped breakfast and she understood. She might get offended if you call her Mrs Weasel however. Her name is Weasley. You will get to meet Ron soon, and he gets called Weasel by the Slytherin's at Hogwarts and he has a rather short fuse, so I would advise you against calling him that.'

The boys did not stop talking while they were making their sandwiches, although sometimes they were a bit hard to understand while they were eating said food.

'Who are the Slytherin's? Is that a gang or something?'

Harry laughed at this, considering three quarters of the school treated them like that.

'No Dudley. Hogwarts has four houses that the students are placed in. Gryffindor, which is my house, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. They were named after the Four Founders of the school a millennia ago. Rivalry and conflict is rife between some of the houses are there is long standing feud between the house of Lions, which is Gryffindor and the house of Snakes, which is Slytherin. I think it's all rubbish myself. I can understand that winning points for your house is motivational and losing them becomes a collective punishment for an individual's misdeeds, but it only increases the levels of prejudice in the school. Ron is unfortunately one of the biggest offender's in Gryffindor house at blaming the Slytherin's for anything and everything, and it is only reciprocated just as intensely. You will understand when you meet him.'

'I see. I wonder what house I will be in?' Dudley posed the question half-heartedly, still unsure of the whole idea of being magical and attending the school, given his track record of behaviour towards Harry. Dudley had never been considered the smartest of children, although he did possess a high level of intelligence if he chose to use it, which was rare, and an almost gifted level of shrewdness and judgement of the best reaction to get out of trouble in any given situation.

'Well, each house has a focus on the type of person, although that's another thing I find ridiculous. Who at age eleven knows what they are going to be like when they are older. This method of sorting the children by character only moulds them into what the house thinks they should be, unless they are able to rise above it and become their own person. But as it stands, Gryffindor is the house of the noble and brave.'

Harry paused as Dudley sniggered a bit at that statement. 'Harry, you always ran from me and my friends as fast as you could. Where was this vaunted bravery in standing up to the oppressors?'

'Dudley, I said house of the noble and brave, not the stupid. All standing up to the five of you would have got me was a world of pain. Running was not cowardice, it was survival.' Harry's eyes had narrowed at Dudley's comment, and he was visibly fuming at this abrupt turn of the conversation.

Realising his mistake in bringing up such a sore subject when Harry had been nothing but nice to him, Dudley hung his head and apologised profusely.

'I'm sorry Harry. I should not have said that. We treated you badly and if it makes any difference, this last two days has made me realise how awful my friends and especially I were. I will think before I speak in the future, and I really am grateful for you giving me another chance.'

Harry's eyes returned to their normal emerald green but his shoulders slumped as he slouched back on the chair he was sitting on. There was a marked difference between his usual broody self that Ron made it his mission to cheer up and the vulnerable young man that was slowly succumbing to the weight of the world resting on his shoulders.

'There is a lot to still cover; we have barely scratched the surface, but there is a war going on Dudley, and like it or not I am in the middle of it. Bad things happen to me and the people around me all the time in the wizarding world. I don't need reminding of the hard times I used to have at home as well.'

The next two hours was spent with Harry bringing Dudley up to speed on the next three years at Hogwarts. Cramming his many adventures into such a time frame necessitated the leaving out of some details, but even the modified version was certainly enough for Dudley to seriously rethink his decision about staying in the magical world. The muggle foster care system was starting to look much more promising. They had migrated to one of the rooms upstairs so they could lie down while talking, so the ringing signalling someone was about to use the floo system caused them to jump up again and descend down the creaky staircase to the lounge room. Harry had been describing Umbridge at the time, so the mood in the room had lightened rather considerably. Regardless of how horrible she was, the antics and pranking that were perpetrated against her were many and the retelling of them vastly entertaining, especially the dramatic exit of the Weasley twins during the exams. Dumbledore met them at the landing as he had been impatiently waiting for Molly to return so he could leave and go about some business.

Walking into the lounge room the boys and Dumbledore were greeted by a room full of red hair. Molly had brought the twins and Ginny as well as Ron and Dudley had never seen so much red hair in his life. There was also a cacophony of noise as the Weasley's were well known for being a very loud family, especially when Ron and the twins were arguing about something, most likely related to a new product from the twins store, Weasley Wizard Wheezes, being tested on Ron without consent. The sound breezed over Harry, making him smile with nostalgia. This was what he considered home, not his late Uncle and Aunt's house. When Harry and Dudley appeared in the room however the noise died out quickly.

Mrs Weasley greeted Harry with a chirpy 'Hello Dear' and then bustled straight off to the kitchen to begin organising dinner, as the family would be staying there for the evening. Dumbledore followed her out, leaving the young men and Ginny in the room.

Ron was the first one to move and quickly came over and slapped Harry on the back with a big grin on his face.

'Hi mate, blimey it's good to see you but what is going on? Why are you not in Surrey? Mum wouldn't tell me anything. She said it would be better if you explained it so let's go have a chat, shall we?'

'Not so fast Ronniekins.'

'Our ludicrously likeable friend...'

'Our eager entrepreneurial benefactor...'

'Our daring Defence instructor...'

'Harry, has only just entered the room.'

'We are all interested in...'

'What he has to say so...'

'Neither of you will be going anywhere.'

The twins grabbed Ron and pushed him into one of the chairs. Dudley was standing there with his jaw nearly resting on the carpet. This was his first time listening to the twins, and his first impression was that it was like watching the tennis, with his head turning one way and then the other. Harry on the other hand had become very used to their style of twin-speak and was generally more amused by the interaction than anything else, as long as their experimentation was done on other people. Being the main financial contributor for their joke shop, having given them his winnings from the Tri-Wizard Tournament, pretty much guaranteed that he was safe from their pranking. Ron on the other hand was a rather unenthusiastic regular tester, whether he wanted to be or not.

The last person to greet Harry was Ginny, who slowly walked up to him and enveloped him in a tight hug.

'It's good to see you Harry, although I must admit I am curious as to the reason behind this impromptu visit to this rather uninviting house. And who is this? Without releasing Harry she turned her head to look at Dudley.

Harry was beginning to feel a little awkward at the extended close proximity. He had not decided how he felt towards Ginny other than being a friend, and was most definitely not used to such overt displays of affection which was something that Hermione had picked up on since they became friends, and was still not satisfied with his responses. Knowing that this was the pivotal moment in the afternoon where he could gauge the initial reactions of his closest friends, which he was not expecting to be positive despite the fact they were unaware of all the details of his previous upbringing, Harry's anxiety level suddenly soared through the roof and up into the clouds. Schooling his features into a somewhat cheeky grin and deciding to over-sensationalise the introduction in an effort to downplay any negative feelings, he backed towards the door and spread his arm out wide to encompass where Dudley was still leaning against the door frame.

'This, my fellow wizards and witch, is none other than my cousin, Dudley.'

Ginny, with her unusually developed social awareness, probably the result of growing up in such a large family of mixed personalities and attitudes, immediately recognised the undertones of Harry's introduction and realised that he was attempting to diffuse a potentially ugly situation and decided she would play along and see what came of it, despite her initial reaction of antagonism towards one of the chief perpetrator's of Harry's unhappy childhood.

'Hello Dudley. I am Ginny. It is very nice to meet you, although I am curious as to why you are here with Harry at the moment. I was under the impression you were a muggle.'

'Hi Ginny. You are very pretty.' Dudley blurted out this comment and immediately his face began to match her hair, as he did not mean to actually say that out loud. Growing up as the leader of his gang of school-yard ruffians, he was used to be in command and people listening to him, whether they wanted to or not. He was not used to this feeling of being an outsider around a group of close friends and siblings.

Fortunately for Dudley, his comment elicited a round of sniggers from the boys, who found this hilarious. This had the positive effect of temporarily postponing the impending explosion from Ron, as it was much harder to be angry while laughing, and also moved the spotlight off Harry. Ginny also laughed and didn't seem in the least embarrassed. After all, she was gorgeous and often had people commenting on it and was used to the attention. How she was able to field so much attention and still remain humble and down-to-earth was a source of much happy confusion to the twins.

In a supremely sacrificial effort to save Dudley from his own embarrassment, deserved as it was, Harry drew the attention back to himself.

'Well guys, it is a very long story, so how about we get some hot chocolate and then sit down. This will take a while.'

Everyone began to file out of the room towards the kitchen to get a drink and some snacks. As Harry was walking down the hallway he noticed that Dudley and Ron had not followed him out. Hearing a muffled impact and a gasp, he feared the worst, and quickly ran back to the room. Sure enough, a quivering Dudley was backed up against the wall with a furious Ron standing there, his wand digging into Dudley's stomach.

'Harry still has not told me everything about his childhood but I know enough, and have worked out more over the years and I know that whatever happened was terrible and you were behind it. What the hell you think you're doing in this house now is what I want to know. Haven't you hurt Harry enough? This house belonged to Sirius. Do you know who Sirius is? Harry's godfather. Do you know what happened to him? He was killed in front of Harry's eyes not even three weeks ago. And yet here you are, the bane of his existence, defiling this house with your mere presence. Harry needs friends right now, not more enemies'

Ron's voice had gradually amplified in volume during his rant, and suddenly looking around he realised that he had an audience. It was Harry's turn to look angry, as he had not spoken about Sirius to Dudley yet, other than the recollection of third year, and was quite annoyed at Ron being the one to divulge the information in an immature fit of rage. Not that this was the first time it had happened.

'Thank you for trying to protect me, Ron, but I can decide for myself who or what I need right now. Maybe if you had listened to my explanation for why Dudley was here you would not have needed to blow your top over it unnecessarily. We have been best friends for 5 years and it still astounds me how often you overreact because you don't have the patience to wait for someone to explain the situation.'

Most people would back down when they are chastised like that, but unfortunately while Ron had many positive qualities, in this case loyalty and the desire to protect his friends as clearly demonstrated from his reaction, he also had many negative qualities, one of which was being completely unable to admit when he was in the wrong. This may have been developed due to him being the baby of the Weasley males, and therefore getting away with a lot of behaviour the other boys were punished for or being able to successfully blame others for his misdeeds. He may not have been born with Bill's intelligence, Charlie's courage, Percy's conviction or the twins inventiveness, but he had had a long time to perfect his ability to pander to adults and project an air of innocence that was generally taken as the truth despite vehement protests by the person being blamed.

Ron did not ease up his pressure and didn't even look away from Dudley's wide eyes to address Harry directly.

'I should not have brought up Sirius, but this git is the reason you come back to school half starved after the summer, and I have seen some of your bruises and scars and have been in enough fights with my brothers to know what some of them were caused by. I am not going to stand by while he prances around this house like he owns it. Why is he not with his parents anyway. Send him home and hang out with your real friends.'

Both Harry and Dudley paled at this comment, although Ron was oblivious to the change in their demeanour.

'Ron, I'm not going to ask again.' Harry's voice was slow and precise, but with a frosty tone that he reserved normally for Malfoy. 'Let him go and put your wand away. You don't have any idea what has happened over the last couple of days, and I would appreciate it if you didn't threaten my cousin. This is not your house either, so you have no choice in whether he is here or not. Now go and get something to eat. Maybe it will help you calm down. Bring everyone back here with you or we will be here all night.'

With a growl and a final jab of his wand into Dudley's stomach, Ron stalked out of the room without a further word.

'Sorry Dudley. Ron is my best friend, and we have spent most of our schooling together, except for the months after the Tri-Wizard Champion selection when he was being a git, but once he gets an idea into his head you have more chance of flying a broomstick to the moon than you do getting him to change his opinion, and even less chance of an apology. Ron lives in a black and white world. You are either light or dark, good or bad, and he is unable to see in shades of grey. He will come around though. Just wait and see.'

Dudley threw himself into a comfortable arm chair in the corner of the room and hugged his knees up to his chest. He was a boy used to a routine. Get up, eat a huge breakfast, go to school, terrorise the younger children, stop by the park on the way home to bully some more children, eat a huge dinner, play his computer games and go to bed. This was what he had been doing for years. So to have his world turned upside down, and to suddenly be at the bottom of the proverbial food chain was a very humbling experience. He vowed that if he was to become a wizard, he would learn as fast as he could so he would not be so vulnerable.

The twins, Ron and Ginny filed back into the room, their hands full of cookies and hot chocolate. The twins and Ginny were laughing together about something, while Ron still looked positively angry. Once they had all taken their seats again, Harry began to recount their story. It took a long time as there were frequent pauses when the reactions of the twins and Ginny, be it the twins disbelief at Dumbledore's actions or Ginny's tears when the story got to the death of Vernon and Petunia, required Harry to stop his retelling until everyone had calmed down enough for him to continue. Needless to say, Ginny and the twins quickly understood why Harry was suddenly protective of his cousin, despite the years of abuse.

Ron on the other hand spent the entire story seething in the corner, and sure enough, once the story came to an end he was unable to keep his mouth shut.

'Just because this git is apparently a wizard, doesn't mean you have to be nice to him. He is dark or he wouldn't have treated you like he did. You should throw him out so he can't hurt you further.'

Ginny reacted the quickest and turned a scathing gaze on her brother.

'Ron, sometimes I wonder how you can grow up in our family and be so prejudice. Have you not been listening to Harry's story? Anyway do you know anything about magic dampening charms? Hermione had been reading up on them in the library and told me a bit about it. Our magic is linked to everything about us. Our bodies, our minds and our spirits. Why do you think that magical children and teenagers can eat so much at Hogwarts. Because the food is strengthening our magic as well as our bodies. So if our magic is blocked or dampened, it can also affect our minds and bodies. Dudley probably feels the urge to eat a lot of food, but his magic is not using the food so his body has excess and doesn't know what to do with it. Similarly, the lack of magic will slow down his mind, and I am willing to bet he seems a lot smarter now than he did before, no offense Dudley. So I believe that Dudley has been unduly influenced by this block and it has contributed to his behaviour. That portion of his life is now over, so I for one am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.'

Even Harry was gaping at the end of this explanation, as this was as much news to him as it was to the others. The more he thought about it though the more it made sense. One thing however did not.

'Ginny, given your explanation, should that not also work in the opposite way. I barely got enough food to survive while I was growing up. Should not my magic be affected for the worse? I seem to be as powerful as the other students my age.'

'You are right, and you may find that if you start eating properly during the holidays as well, your power will grow. I guess only time will tell.'

Ron still wasn't satisfied, but he could tell that it was not an argument he would be able to win that night. He vowed to himself he would find proof that Dudley could not be trusted and Harry would thank him for it one day. He could only hope that that day would come quickly.


	4. To Discover a New World

**Chapter 4: To Discover a New World**

A couple of days passed and Harry and his friends were beginning to feel a bit imprisoned, as they had not been allowed to go out until Dumbledore had come back and they had worked out what to do regarding Dudley's identity. Everyone had agreed that it would be a good idea for him to change names so that it would be harder for him to be traced, even though the Dursley's were not known by the wizarding world. The Death Eaters were nothing if not thorough in their research and the link could be made to Harry's past if they looked hard enough. Even being a friend of Harry's was dangerous, but they were all more than willing to take the risk to both the pride and worry of their parents.

Facing the world and possible dangers of Death Eater attacks was still much higher up on their to do lists than staying cooped up in a dingy old house for ever. Mrs Weasley was having a much harder time attempting to supervise them as their forced confinement inevitably led to the creation of new practical joke products, and their proliferate testing on each other. It was a great relief for the frazzled woman when Tonks stepped out of the fireplace that evening after a shift at work. This was the first time she had had a chance to return to Grimauld Place after the incident as her work was keeping her quite busy. Her happy smile and spritely step foretold of some positive news, and quite selfishly, Mrs Weasley hoped it would give her some relief. Dumbledore had not been back either, so she was anxiously awaiting news of his pending return.

'Well Molly, after much persuasion, Amelia has granted my request for three weeks of personal leave. She did not want to, given the threat of Death Eater attacks now that no-one can deny the return of You-Know-Who, but I have plenty of leave accrued and the department still needs to run as normal. I could still get called in for emergencies, but I will be able to stay here and teach Dudley. I won't volunteer to be solely responsible for the twins though, I am afraid, as I have been on the receiving end of their pranks before.'

'That's good news, dear, and I will be very grateful for the help. Much as I consider Harry family, his cousin eats as much as Ron does, and it's difficult enough looking after my own children during the holidays. I love seeing them and having them around, but it is a relief when the summer ends and they head back to school. Do you know when Dumbledore will be able to return? We need to get the children out of the house. Maybe we can go back to the Burrow for a few days.'

'Sorry Molly, I have not seen Dumbledore for a couple of days. I am sure he will be back in good time. Now I am here, I figured I would start teaching Dudley some of the basics, as we have a lot to cover if he is going to attempt to jump straight into 6th year with Harry. We need to get him a wand though which will necessitate a trip to Diagon Alley. Sooner rather than later.'

'Yes, and I will be delighted to do that as soon as Dumbledore gets back.'

That evening's meal was the most entertaining time they had all had in a long time. Tonks regaled them all with stories of her life as an auror, complete with partial transformations to the various individuals in her tales. Being a metamorphmagus had its benefits in story-telling for sure. In fact that dinner made Tonks wonder whether she could change her career and become a travelling magical bard once Voldemort had been defeated. Banishing that thought to the back of her mind, she noticed an owl had appeared at the table. This owl had multiple letters attached to its leg, all of them with the seal of Gringotts prominent on the front.

There was a letter addressed to Harry, Tonks and Mrs Weasley. Upon opening they all realised it was the same thing and the mood in the room declined rapidly from the previous high to a subdued low.

_Dear Harry,_

_Gringotts would like to advise you of the upcoming reading of the will of Sirius Black at 10am on the 18th July in Conference room 3 at Gringotts in Diagon Alley. As a recipient of the will, you are required to be in attendance. _

_Sincerely,_

_Coppertooth_

_Head of Department_

_Births, Marriages and Deaths_

Harry had managed not to think too much about Sirius over the last couple of days with the Weasley's, but this brought the pain back into focus. Attending a will reading was the final confirmation that he was not coming back. There would be no false hope after this. Sirius would be gone forever. Putting his cutlery down on his almost empty plate, Harry got up without a word and trudged out of the room, slowly but purposefully, up to his room to spend some time alone. The Weasley's were great to be around, and the twins had an uncanny ability to bring laughter and happiness to the darkest places and moments, but there were some things that needed to be worked through on their own.

Downstairs at the table, the boys all glanced at each other, trying to decide what their response should be and ended up all shrugging and diving back into their pudding bowls. _'Typical Boys_' thought Ginny. Being the token girl in a group of boys for the last couple of days made her realise that this was one area where she might be able to show her worth. Harry was obviously having a traumatising time trying to come to terms with Sirius being gone, and if there was one area Ginny excelled above the rest of her siblings it was completely unsurprisingly in the area of emotional response and dealing with pain. After all, she had been possessed by the diary of Tom Riddle and still had dreams about her actions while not in control of her body that lingered years later, the guilt about the people she had hurt, regardless of the fact she wasn't even aware of them at the time disturbing her sleep. She had long since perfected the silencing charm to ensure she did not disturb others during the worst of them. She could help Harry now when the others couldn't although she had to admit to herself the effort was not entirely altruistic. She still harboured a bit of a crush for the Boy-Who-Lived, and she had much deeper feelings for 'just Harry', but she still had no idea if they were at all reciprocated. Maybe this would have the added benefit of helping her to find out. Ginny got up and walked away from the table, resolutely continuing without responding to the questioning calls following her.

Knocking on Harry's door elicited no response. She listened at the door for a minute and didn't hear a sound, until a single muted sob caught her attention. This put her in a bit of a quandary. On the one hand, she knew that Harry, even more than anyone she had ever met absolutely abhorred showing weakness in front of others. To intrude upon so private a moment, even with comforting intentions could easily turn Harry against her. On the other hand, Harry needed to learn that he had friends who were there for him, who wanted to help and would not be at all put off that he was finally showing an emotional response to something. Upon reflection, Ginny was selfishly very grateful for Hermione's absence, as she would have taken upon herself the role of that Ginny was attempting now and removed another opportunity for Ginny to get closer to Harry.

Deciding she needed to brave the possible anger at her intrusion, Ginny knocked again and tentatively spoke at the door.

'Harry? It's Ginny. Can I come in please?'

A muffled grunt was her answer, and taking this as an affirmative, she slowly opened the door, stepped inside and closed it behind her. Not wanting her brother's to hear the conversation, and knowing they would have been following her with the intention of listening in, she cast a silencing charm and locked the door. Harry looked her questioningly and she responded with a very slight smirk.

'My brothers.'

No other words necessary, Harry's face actually attempted a half smile. He knew the twins well and was equally as confidant that if he went out to the corridor now they would be leaning against the door, or maybe in the next room with an extendable ear.

'So what do you want?'

The question was asked softly, and Ginny had to struggle to understand the words, Harry having returned his attention to a particular point of the blank wall next to his bed. Ginny harnessed her Gryffindor bravery and jumped right in.

'I just thought that you could use someone to talk to, and I figured that after my first year at Hogwart's, I might be able to understand what you are going through better than most.'

Harry's face started to harden, and as he turned to look at her, Ginny cursed her impetuousness and famed Gryffindor courage, as her attempt to help him was going to be to no avail.

'Thank you Ginny, and I know you mean well, but you have absolutely no idea what I'm going through right now. First my parents, then Sirius, and then my Aunt and Uncle. People close to me die, and there seems to be nothing I can do about it. Some of the time its due to stupid decisions I have made, sometimes it is completely out of my control, but they still die nevertheless. You may have done some bad things, but you had no control over yourself at the time, and none of your friends or family got hurt or killed. So sorry, but much as I appreciate the kindness, I would like to be alone for a while.'

While Harry, even in his misery was still able to be polite to her, Ginny recognised a dismissal when she heard one so she sighed and headed towards the door.

'Even still, if you need to talk, you know where to find me.' With that last comment flung over her shoulder Ginny exited the room after dispelling her locking and silencing charms, only to be accosted in the hallway by a sneering Ron.

'Poor Gin-gin. Not good enough for the Boy-Who-Lived. That must hurt considering how long you have been crushing on him.'

Ginny was shocked. She knew Ron could be vindictive and often spoke before he thought which had gotten him into plenty of predicaments in the past, but this was a new level of cruelty even for him. Knowing if she tried to confront him she would end of crying and making the situation worse, she fled down the hallway to her own room, locked the door and put up a silencing charm before flinging herself down on the bed and opening the floodgates.

The twins were just as shocked as Ginny and while they were not adverse to playing a prank on family members, they were very protective of their sister and they both turned on Ron and shoved him against the wall.

'What do you think you are doing, saying something like that to Ginny?'

'Ever since we got here you have been rude, deceitful and nasty to everyone and we are getting sick of it.'

'Make yourself scarce for a while and then we expect you to apologise to Ginny once you have thought about your behaviour.'

'Do this or you will be the sole tester of all of our future products and I can guarantee we have some ideas you will not enjoy.'

Even in anger, the twins special way of talking had Ron looking backwards and forwards throughout the rant.

Having heard the conversation through the door, Harry's anger at Ron's comment overcame his brooding and he stalked out into the hallway, clearly seething in rage.

'Ron, you have been my best friend for five years, and I think I know you quite well by now, but I have never heard you say something so unkind to anyone before, let alone your sister. If you have a problem with me and Dudley, then you can take it up with us. Leave everyone else out of it. Now get away from me before I do something I might regret.'

Harry turned around and stalked back into his room, slamming his door behind him. Shaking their heads the twins left a furious Ron in the hall by himself.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Molly and Tonks were cleaning up after dinner and were using the time without any teenage distractions to discuss plans for the upcoming visit to Diagon Alley. They both understood that teenagers can only handle being cooped up in a house for so long, especially teenagers belonging to the Weasley family who had all minus Percy displayed an uncommon fondness for pranking, and that getting them out of the house, as long as they were supervised would provide some welcome relief to the present monotony . It would also give them an opportunity to buy their required books and equipment for the next year, and most especially to get Dudley a wand, so he could finally start catching up on his missed five years of schooling. It was decided that as long as he as free, Remus would accompany the two of them with the children. Three adults should be enough to look after six teenagers, surely, although for some reason even Molly seemed to have momentarily forgotten who the children were they would be supervising. After all, three of them managed to escape from Hogwarts, ride Thestrals to London, infiltrate the Department of Mysteries deep within the bowels of the vaunted Ministry of Magic and battle twice their number of Death Eaters to a standstill, not to forget the resourcefulness of the twins. Of course three adults would be plenty to supervise them.

The day of the will reading dawned, and while Harry was still brooding, the others were all excited to be finally leaving the house that had become their prison. Even Ron managed to get up in time for a hearty cooked breakfast before they gathered in the lounge room to prepare to leave. Remus had arrived in time for breakfast as well and was currently catching up with Harry in one corner of the room. Remus was also coming to the will reading, as the last of the Marauders and good friend of Sirius. Harry had long since forgiven Remus for his absence during his childhood and had started to get close to the man during their extra defence lessons while learning the patronus charm in third year. Remus was after all, his last link to Sirius, and he wanted to make the most of that. And likewise, Harry was Remus's last link to the Marauders as the son of Prongs and the godson of Padfoot and he had vowed to be there for him from now on.

Lining up at the fireplace at nine thirty, they made the journey to the Leaky Cauldron by floo. Dudley had never travelled by floo before, and was staring at the fireplace in disbelief, even though he had seen people appear in the same fireplace previously. It was a very tentative boy who took the offered floo powder and did his best to imitate the others. Considering Harry had managed to somehow end up at Borgin and Bourkes on his first floo trip, Dudley successfully appeared in the pub. Harry of course had still not learned the fine arts of floo travel and ended up on the floor after stumbling from the fireplace, to the amusement of the tavern patrons. The amusement very quickly left their faces however as they recognised who it was they were laughing at. Dudley got his first glimpse at the world of Harry Potter as he watched the reactions of the various people in the pub. Fear, respect, hope, anger and envy were all directed at the Boy-Who-Lived, who barely even seemed to notice the stares, used to them as he was.

'Alright everyone, we will be going straight to Gringotts, so please stay together. We will go shopping after the bank and there will be plenty of time then. And remember, for now we will be calling Dudley Duncan. We haven't had time with Dumbledore to work out a proper identity, so let's try not to have to talk to anyone, but Duncan is close enough you should be able to remember it. Now follow me.'

Mrs Weasley led the group through the enchanted arch into Diagon Alley although it wasn't long before Harry bumped into a broad back that had suddenly stopped in front of him. Recalling his first visit to the Alley when he was eleven, Harry could understand Dudley's reaction to the marvels of magic, seeing post owls, and enchanted letters flying everywhere, cauldrons, and owls and broomsticks visible through shop windows and a large crowd of people all wearing robes. Even with Voldemort's return now officially declared, Diagon Alley had yet to be terribly affected, most wizards and witches not recognising the potential danger they were in, not having seen Voldemort themselves. They would soon regret their lack of concern.

Pushing through the crowds, the group made their way slowly up the alley to Gringotts bank. After passing through the large double doors, Mrs Weasley bade the teenagers all stay together in a corner of the entrance hall while she went to line up in front of one of the tellers. Such a group standing all together attracted attention however and another goblin walked over towards them.

'Is there something I can help you with?' the goblin asked, his pointy teeth bared in a smile that caused Dudley to involuntarily take a step backwards, not having encountered a goblin before.

'Thank you, Griphook, isn't it? We are here for the will reading of Sirius Black.' Harry's response made the goblin's smile morph into a feral grin.

'It is not often a wizard remembers our names, young Master Potter. It is pleasing to see someone as polite as you in this place. Most of your kind just do their required business and get out as fast as they can.'

'Well I don't see why I should not be polite to you just because you are a goblin. To me you are a person and deserve respect until you prove otherwise, and as such, you have mine. Are you able to direct us to conference room three so we can attend the will reading?'

'Certainly Mr Potter. Are these ... friends of yours also coming?'

'Yes, they have all been invited as recipients, except for my friend here who will just be accompanying me. Mrs Weasley is still lining up for a teller so we can collect her on the way past.'

Tonks and Remus had witnessed this exchange with the goblin and both were amazed that Harry was so friendly and with a glance at each other, they decided this would be an avenue they would follow up themselves at a later date, as the approach clearly received a much less vicious response than a regular 'I need to enter my vault' discourse with a teller. Especially as they were currently included in the majority of people who wanted as little to do with Gringotts as possible.

Grabbing a perplexed Mrs Weasley out of the queue as they walked past, Griphook escorted them behind the tellers and down a corridor to a large walnut door with a number 3 etched into it in what appeared to be gold. The goblin nation were not adverse to showing off their wealth in tasteful but obvious ways. This opulence was apparent in the conference room as well, with a gold inlaid oak table surrounded by plush leather chairs, and a gold chandelier hanging from the ceiling although Dudley was surprised to see candles instead of light globes, but then again he tried to recall where he had last seen anything related to electricity and couldn't.

'Dudley will have to stay outside. Only recipients of the will are allowed inside. No exceptions I am afraid. I will take him to a nearby waiting room and will collect him when you are finished.'

Shrugging, Dudley turned and followed Griphook while the others proceeded inside.

As they filed into the room they noticed it was already occupied, presumably by other recipients of the will. Dumbledore was there sitting next to an older lady Harry did not recognise, but assumed must be Andromeda as Tonks walked over and embraced her. Knowing the family tree as he did, Harry was unsurprised to see Narcissa Malfoy sitting straight in her chair with a haughty expression on her face, looking down on the new entrants as if they were barely worth her notice. Lounging next to her with his customary sneer was Draco, as arrogant as ever, who was also the first person to greet them upon arrival.

'Well well, look at this. The werewolf who can't provide for himself, the blood traitors who need to scrounge for every penny, the Boy-Who-Won't-Be-Living-Much-Longer and my dear cousin the Metamorphmagus. Pity you were not a couple of years younger, you would be a fine plaything.'

'Draco, don't speak like that. We are better than them. We don't need to lower ourselves by communicating with them. I don't even know why they are here.' Narcissa's silken voice drifted across the room.

'Yes mother. They will learn their place eventually. It just pains me to be in the same room as them. It's bad enough having to see them at school but during the summer as well? It's disgusting.' Draco's trademark sneer was directed at the teenagers one at a time.

Everyone bristled at the numerous insults but it was Harry who spoke.

'Good morning Mrs Malfoy and Draco. Do say hello to Lucius for me next time you see him. Pity he couldn't be here with you but I guess he must still be on his knees begging forgiveness from your pathetic half-blood master for getting beaten by a kid.'

'Don't you dare speak about my father like that!' The sneer was gone, replaced by a look of pure loathing.

Draco was standing with his wand out, about to curse Harry when the door at the back of the room opened and four goblin guards ran in holding pikes, followed by Griphook and Coppertooth.

'What is the meaning of this! Sit down and put your wand away at once or you will be thrown out of here and will be forbidden to enter Gringotts again. Such behaviour is not tolerated by anyone. You can wait till we are done and pursue your problems outside later. Now, let's get started since everyone is here.'

'I have here with me, a verified will, from Sirius Black, made only a few weeks before his demise.'

Coppertooth proceeded to break the deal on the parchment and began to read.

'I, Sirius Orion Black, of sound mind, well as much as ever at any rate, do hereby write my last will and testament and will dispense the inheritance of the Black family as I see fit.'

'Firstly to my closest living friend, Remus Lupin, I leave you with 1,000 Galleons and the contents of my wardrobe. Please get rid of the rags you normally wear. You now have clothes fit for the gentleman that you are.' This elicited a laugh from most of the room, a teary smile from Remus and an amused snort from the Malfoy's.

'What a waste of a good wardrobe. Sirius had many faults but impeccable taste was not one of them.' Narcissa's comment was spoken softly but Remus's enhanced senses picked up the insult, and he bristled but managed to keep himself from hurling abusive words back across the table, knowing the reaction of the goblins to any interruption to their proceedings. Perhaps that was Narcissa's ploy and he resigned himself to ignore anything she said today.

'To Andromeda Tonks, you get my heartfelt apologies for the wrongs committed against you by my family, and 2,000 galleons.' Another snort from Narcissa. While she missed her sister, she had been brought up to believe the prejudices of her family and felt betrayed when Andromeda had run off with a muggle-born.

The list went on, most people being given a small sum of money or some items that Sirius believed was appropriate to them. Narcissa and Draco were getting quite annoyed that they had not been at the top of the list as one of Sirius's last living relatives that had not been disowned. However their annoyance was about to explode exponentially when their names were read.

'To Narcissa Malfoy, my cousin and her son Draco, I leave 1 knut each. No longer will the Black family assist in financing Death Eaters such as Lucius Malfoy or his half-blood master.'

This drew a cry of rage from Draco.

'He can't do that. This is ridiculous. I should be heir. I am his last living male relative. Who does he think he is.'

Narcissa was furious as well, but also realised that there was nothing she could do in the midst of a conference room or enemies and goblins.

'This is a farce. We are done here.'

Grabbing Draco by the arm and whispering angrily in his ear about decorum and reigning in his emotions, she marched out of the room under the amused glances of everyone else.

Clearing his throat, Coppertooth continued.

'And now, the final item, I name my Godson Harry James Potter as my heir, and do leave him the remainder of the Black family possessions, including Grimauld Place. It is not much, as generations of Black's have squandered our fortune or backed the rise of various Dark Lord's, but I am overjoyed to be starting a new page in the history of the Black family, and will enjoy knowing my ancestor's will be rolling in their graves. I have one request of Harry however, and that is to allow Dumbledore to continue using Grimauld Place for his Posse of the Flaming Chicken.'

The teenagers all roared with laughter at that one, while the adults, especially Dumbledore just shook their heads at Sirius' antics. Once a Marauder, always a Marauder.

It was a happy group that exited Gringotts, and they decided to split up and do some shopping. The twins were in the process of starting up their joke shop, much to their mother's displeasure, and just recently signed a lease for a building a little way down the alley, so they headed off to work on their business ideas. Their forced confinement at Grimauld Place had grated on them as they were of age and felt they could make their own decisions, however they had uncharacteristically not made a fuss as they realised that they had access to a grand library that contained many new spells that would assist them in their product development and had not been idle.

Ginny and Ron went with Mrs Weasley to do some of their school shopping, although as Ron and Harry had not received their OWL results yet they were not completely sure of what subjects they would be taking. Mrs Weasley was surprised by this as she had stayed out of the teenagers affairs as much as she could over the last few days and so was not fully cognizant of the extent of the rift between Ron and Harry. It did mean that she was left with two of her children who were not at all happy with each other and were constantly bickering. The day could not end fast enough.

Harry and Dudley set off with Remus and Tonks to look around, who were nice enough to give them a bit of space, especially since it allowed them time to be together, even if neither of them would admit the reasons why they found that so appealing. It was a lot to take in for Dudley, as it was his first experience in Diagon Alley and he was constantly finding new amazing things to look at. After a half hour of aimless wandering, Harry decided to head for Flourish and Blotts to look for a book on Occlumency for both himself and Dudley. After all, if he was going to try to hide his identity behind a careful forged persona, it wouldn't do much good if anyone with a tiny bit of skill in the mind arts could pull such thoughts from his mind. Also, growing up with Vernon Dursley as his father was not conducive to practicing decorum and control of his emotions and given that they were expecting that Dudley wouldn't have the easiest time at Hogwarts, he could not afford to let his emotions get him into situations his lack of magical knowledge couldn't get him out of.

Nearing the store, Harry had turned his head to address Dudley and momentarily lost sight of where he was walking. He was therefore taken by surprise at a collision with a soft figure, who promptly fell over and dropped the books she was carrying. Harry caught his balance and immediately went to offer his assistance to the girl he had knocked over, only to find them already rising with the aid of another teenage girl, this one trying desperately to smother a grin.

'Glad to see the illustrious Boy-Who-Lived is just like everyone else, prone to distraction with the uncanny ability of walking forwards without paying attention to where he is going. And I had thought that was a specialty of Crabbe and Goyle's.' This caused the grin on the second girl's face to get even bigger.

Harry just stood there with his mouth open, unsure of how to respond. Dudley on the other hand was trying desperately to decide if he should join the other girl in laughing at the situation, or continue to stare at the girls in front of him. They were both wearing summer dresses that were form fitting across the top, perfectly accenting but not flaunting their curves and flowed loosely from the waist to just below the knee and both girls were gorgeous. Long, ivory hair on the girl Harry had knocked over framed a beautiful face with smooth porcelain skin and wide almost silvery blue eyes that were right now focused intently on Harry. The other girl was almost the opposite, wavy blonde hair that fell halfway down her back, brown eyes and a couple of freckles on her nose.

Harry started to stutter a reply. He knew who the girls were but didn't recall really ever speaking to either of them before. They were Slytherin's and so were not on his list of people to hang out with, which upon reflection, he realised was quite a prejudiced point of view.

'Oh really, Potter. Perfectly happy facing down dementor's, dragon's and Dark Lords but can't speak to a girl.'

Dudley really did start to laugh at this. He couldn't help it. Even though he had been very fearful of what Harry had faced when he was listening to Harry recall his first five years of schooling, having a girl put it into such a perspective was vastly amusing.

'And who is your friend? Is he able to speak a coherent sentence in the presence of a female?'

Dudley decided this was one area where he did not need Harry's help.

'Hi, I am Dud... Duncan. Pleased to meet you.' Dudley almost forgot he was not using his real name on this venture but thought he had covered his slip quickly enough.

Hi, Dud Duncan. Have you thought about taking yourself back if you are a dud? Did your parents get a warranty when they had you?'

Apparently he had not been quick enough, and this girl appeared to have a very sharp tongue and was not afraid to use it on strangers. This comment of course also set her friend off into further giggles. Unfortunately they did not realise what had so recently happened to Dudley's parents, and were quite shocked at the immediate escalation of hostility displayed towards them.

'My parents were murdered a few days ago, so I don't think they can take me anywhere.'

Realising her mistake, the girl was horrified to hear about his parents and very quickly did a double take.

'I am so sorry. I have a bad habit of speaking before I think, and I do not fancy climbing out of another hole, especially in new clothes. Can we start over? My name is Daphne Greengrass and this fountain of amusement here who can't stop giggling like she did when she was three years old is my best friend Tracey Davis. I hope Potter's inability to talk to females that don't live in the library or are related to his best friend hasn't rubbed off on you.'

It was both a measure of the resilience of a teenager as well as the fact that nothing seems to make people feel better about themselves then when someone else is being put down, that Dudley's anger at her comment about his parents was able to dissipate so quickly in the face of yet another amusing dig at Harry. Dudley winked at Harry and turned back to Daphne.

'I have but recently begun to enjoy the splendour of the English wizarding world, but the magnificence I have beheld in this, my maiden outing into this mesmerising Diagon Alley, has paled into insignificance before the radiant countenance of beauty in front of me.' Dudley added a slight bow for dramatic effect and even managed to grab and kiss Daphne's hand.

'Well, this is a first. I have never seen Daphne silenced by over-exaggerated flattery. It is quite refreshing, I must say'

Dudley was just about to answer when they heard and series of cracks, and an explosion from the other end of the Alley. People began fleeing towards them and Harry quickly placed himself protectively in front of Dudley and the girls.

'Death Eaters! Get inside the shop now and take cover behind something solid if you can. I can't protect you out here.' He began shoving Dudley and the girls quickly through the door, before turning and stepping out into the chaos that had descended upon the alley. The flood of people running into shops to hide prevented the girls from coming out again to his aid. Dudley swung his head around in terror. Not again. He had only had a couple of days of peace since his parents house was destroyed and his parents murdered and already he was plunged straight back into a similar but even more dangerous situation. His fear for himself was joined by an even greater fear for Harry who was fighting for them, however the shop was now packed with panicking people, and he only managed to get a glimpse of Harry, standing boldly in the middle of the Alley flinging curses towards the Death Eaters, before the distraught crowd swallowed him.


End file.
